We did it!

It took 12 years, four facility name changes, and hundreds of hours of advocacy, persistence and due diligence, but the University of Alaska Fairbanks is finally on its way to becoming the home of the Life Sciences Facility.

On Election Day 2010 voters around the state of Alaska overwhelmingly approved passage of Proposition B, the statewide general obligation bond that included $88 million for our much-needed life sciences building.

The UA Board of Regents Facilities approved the final design of the facility on Nov. 9. We expect to have a contract in place before the end of 2010, with construction to begin next spring, and an estimated completion date of late 2013/early 2014.

As I mentioned in my convocation presentation, looking back through our history we can find numerous examples of how we have taken on and survived challenges. This will be remembered as one of those challenges. The Life Sciences Facility is happening because all of us--faculty, alumni, students, staff and community members--worked together, year after year, hammering home the message that the research and learning done in this new facility will be of vital importance to our community, state and beyond.

Thanks to all of you for your support of the project over the years, and thanks to those of you who voted in favor of the proposition.á

Undergraduate student Sargent Shriver (red shirt) works with Professor Abel Bult-Ito mixing drugs to feed mice as part of his neuroscience research in the Arctic Health Research Building.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks is an affirmative action/equal
opportunity employer and educational institution and is a part of the University
of Alaska system.
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